By Emily Stonehouse

It is estimated that the final price tag on this snap provincial election is $189 million. That amount is coming exclusively from taxpayers’ pockets. We paid for this.

We paid $189 million for absolutely nothing to change.

$189 million is not loose change. In fact, if you had access to those funds and spent $10,000 every single day for 50 years, you still would not reach $189 million.

And that’s how much the PC government blew in less than a month. Your money.

Now I’d be the first to call out municipal governments and some of their decisions, but where I will give them credit is that they have spent countless hours whittling away at a budget that would impact taxpayers in the least detrimental way.

Because to a certain extent, they get it.

They see that our community is struggling. That food bank usage is at an all-time high. That service clubs are asking for funds at road tolls to keep community events alive. That firewood and groceries and every single aspect of our cost of living is borderline unattainable.

We’re struggling. Some more than others. But every single Ontarian is impacted.

And we just blew $189 million on the most pointless election of all time.

Ford is able to sit comfy on his Throne of Greed while he spent our money to be re-elected. $189 million may be loose change to him, but it’s a livelihood for us; the people he’s supposed to be representing.

And what’s stopping him from calling another election in a few years from now? Yes, terms are designed to be in four year chunks, but that didn’t slow him down. He waited a mere two years from the last election, and managed to time this one with a weather warning and unsafe driving conditions. A perfect storm. There hasn’t been a winter provincial election since 1981. It’s not heard of, not needed, not safe, not fair, not democratic.

I won’t get into the shortcomings of Ford; his complete disregard for environmental initiatives, his ambivalence towards rural healthcare, his unwillingness to support or consider BIPOC and 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, his continued support of Elon Musk, even after putting on a song and dance about cutting ties with the U.S.

He’s all talk, no action; sitting high and mighty on his Throne of Greed, his loose change burning a hole in his pocket, itching for more power.

I can’t imagine what $189 million would do for our community. Three years ago, the final numbers came out for the new and improved SG Nesbitt Memorial Arena. It had a shiny price tag of $13.3 million. The town was outraged, and rightfully so. It was a significant chunk above the original proposal of nine million.

But as time went on, we saw that the arena was used. Every day, it offered programming to seniors, events for kids. It became the home of a well-known hockey team, and a hub for the community. We turned rocks into diamonds, an oyster into a pearl.

Right now, we should all be outraged at $189 million for a pointless election. We should all be angry.

But I hope with these next two, four, six, years (whatever Ford feels like doing, he’s the boss), we can find our footing and hope that real, concrete change is made.

Because we’re all tapped out of loose change.